Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Solicits Support For Saturday’s Scrimmage
The Alabama Crimson Tide is set to hold its annual A-Day spring football game on Saturday, April 16 at 2 p.m. The annual exhibition serves as the exclamation point on Alabama's spring practice season and the only time the fans can see the Tide ahead of the 2022 season opener.
Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban met with the media on Thursday and stressed the importance of A-Day while imploring the fanbase to show up in mass to support the program.
"One of the things I think really helped this program get off the ground was the first A-Day game that we had, we had over 90,000 people. I think that sent a message to the whole nation how committed we all were to having a first-class program, a program that you can be proud of, a program that would attract character-quality people who wanted to be great players so we could have a successful program so that would be a positive window for how people would look at the University of Alabama because a lot of people look at the university through the athletic programs. None greater than football. For us to have a great crowd on Saturday regardless of what the weather is to support the players, to support the team, I think this sends a huge message of what our passion, our desire and our support for having a great program. I know it's a holiday weekend. Sorry that the calendar worked out this way but we certainly love having a great crowd there. The players really, really enjoy it, they love playing for you and I think it really shows your support for them and the program. So we'd appreciate y'all coming out for A-Day." - Nick Saban
Alabama's spring game falls on a busy sports weekend for the state of Alabama. The Crimson Tide softball team hosts Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa, the baseball team is taking on No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville and the USFL is kicking off its inaugural weekend in Birmingham.
The weekend weather forecast in Tuscaloosa also presents circumstances to consider for Alabama fans. Thunderstorms appear to be on the horizon for both Saturday and Sunday in West Alabama, possibly putting a damper on the turnout in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Lastly, Saban needs to consider the quality of football being put on display on Saturday. Not only will the Tide be schematically simple, due to not wanting to put anything out of the ordinary on film, but Alabama will also likely hold several prominent players out of the scrimmage.
In 2021 the Tide held roughly 20 players out of the A-Day event for various reasons and the game ended with a thrilling final score of 13-10. Saban and the coaching staff held players out of the first and second scrimmage of the spring season and will likely keep several prominent players inactive this coming Saturday, sucking the intrigue and excitement out of the exhibition.
Will Saban be happy with Saturday's turnout?
If Bryant-Denny Stadium is at least half full on Saturday, given the circumstances stacking against event, it should be considered a win for the Saban and the Alabama football program.